The state government established Infrastructure South Australia as an independent group to provide expert and evidence-based advice.

It recommended introducing toll roads in its first report, released on Wednesday, but Premier Steven Marshall ruled out the idea.

"One of the fundamentals of the legislation is that we don't have to implement in full all of the recommendations," he said.

"They made recommendations in regards to toll roads but we made it clear before the election that we are not interested."

He said the report outlined long-term infrastructure issues that need to be addressed.

"We will build on our massive investments in roads, schools and hospitals, as well as build better tourism and digital infrastructure to ensure we remain competitive against other smart cities."

Infrastructure Minister Stephan Knoll said the report would help the state government make smarter decisions on how to spend taxpayers' money on infrastructure projects.

"The strategy says we need to look at upgrading and optimising our current infrastructure assets (and) reaffirms the need to grow public transport patronage and invest in our network," he said.

Mr Knoll said it also revealed the necessity of clearing the road maintenance backlog, which has accumulated over decades.

South Australian Freight Council's chief Evan Knapp said the report confirmed the backlog had increased to unsustainable levels and risked road user safety and reduced freight productivity.

"The good news is that with official recognition of the problem comes an opportunity for the government to take action," Mr Knapp said.

Roads Australia president Michael Bushby also said it was pleasing to see resilience was acknowledged as a key factor in infrastructure planning, design, delivery and maintenance.

"The recent bushfire crisis underlines the growing challenge we face in protecting infrastructure such as roads from the impacts of climate-related events," Mr Bushby said.

However, Civil Contractors Federation chief Phil Sutherland said the absence of a construction-ready pipeline of projects was concerning.

"Our members were hoping for a strategy that would inform, in some detail, their company planning for the future," he said.

"We suspect that the much-needed pipeline of advanced projects for SA remains a work in progress."

Australian Associated Press